Denis Chouinard has proceeded like someone who has always known what he thinks. He has written and directed or co-directed six evocatively named shorts: On parlait pas allemand in 1985, Les 14 définitions de la pluie in 1993, Le feu in 1995, and, in 1998, the documentary Le verbe incendié. The list of festivals and awards for his first feature, Clandestins, co-directed with Nicolas Wadimoff, is very impressive: these include the Bayard d'Or and the Public Award at the Festival International du Film Francophone in Namur in 1997, the Don Quijote Award at the Festival internazionale del film in Locarno, Switzerland in 1997, and the Special Jury Prize at the Festival du film de Paris in 1998.